Containers, and more specifically metallic beverage containers, generally contain a neck on an upper portion that is adapted for interconnection to a metallic end closure. The container end closure is formed from a flat sheet of metallic material and generally includes a pull tab or other form of stay on tab (“SOT”). Beverage containers commonly store carbonated beverages, thus, both the container body and the container end closure are required to withhold internal pressures up to 90 psi while under varying temperatures without catastrophic failure or permanent deformation. Further, the container end closure must be manufactured, stacked, shipped, and sent to a filler prior to being seamed onto a container body filled with a carbonated beverage. Thus, the container and end closure must be designed to resist deformation and failure while utilizing thin metallic materials and allowing compact stacking during shipping and manufacturing.
Food and beverage containers with pull tabs or SOTs are generally known. Various SOTs and related features are disclosed, by way of example, in U.S. Pat. No. 7,926,675 to Rieck et al., the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. Known end closures, however, generally may buckle when under varying temperatures and internal pressure. If an end closure buckles near the score lines, tear panel, or pour opening, the score line may fail and release the pressurized contents of the container. Many users of conventional devices, such as SOTs for pressurized containers, may have experienced “peak and leak” when they have left pressurized containers in their cars under hot conditions. As the heat of the car increases, so does the internal temperature and internal pressure of the container. The increased internal pressure causes the end closure to buckle and crack the score, thus spilling the contents of the container. Peak and leak is when the end closure buckles and causes the score line to fracture such that the contents of the container leak out. Peak and leak may result in not only the failure of a specific can, but the spoilage of other containers once they become covered with carbonated soda or beer. Accordingly, there exists a significant need for a beverage container end closure that will not buckle near the score line or tear panel such that the score line cracks causing catastrophic failure.
Previous attempts have been made to manufacture container end closures that resist buckling near the opening, or control where the buckling occurs. Prior art methods of reducing burst-before-buckle used a coined bead at the 6 o'clock position to reduce flexure or modified the deboss wall in front of the 6 o'clock score position to eliminate deboss buckle. Note that “induced buckle coin” may be used interchangeably herein with “buckle coin.”
For purposes of further disclosure, the following references generally related to end panels with buckle control features and are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties:    Japanese Patent Publication No. JP2002145263 to Yoshihiko;    Japanese Patent Publication No. JP2000159229 to Yoshihiko;    U.S. Pat. No. 5,829,623 issued to Otsuka et al. on Nov. 3, 1998; and    U.S. Pat. No. 8,157,119 issued to Watson et al. on Apr. 17, 2012.
Due to the numerous limitations associated with the prior art described above, the following disclosure describes an improved container end closure that is adapted for interconnection to a container body and that employs buckle control features. This novel feature provides control of the buckle location, significantly improves the end closure's buckle resistance near the opening and score line, and reduces the likelihood of catastrophic failure along with the release of carbonated beverages.